Board Games that Video Gamers should play & many more board game questions & answers!
Watch It Played
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Matthew Answers YOUR questions about board games and tabletop gaming!
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00:00 – Introduction
00:19 – What are the weirdest games you own?
03:19 – What board games would video gamers enjoy?
11:11 – Are we in the golden age of board games?
#watchitplayed #boardgames #Q&A
03.05.2023
There are so many zany games out there to choose from, with wacky themes!
I think we've passed the Golden Age of boardgames, when Kickstarter games were cheap and shipping was affordable. The next golden age will be when we all have cheap 3d printers that can "download" a full boardgame and print every component including the board and rules manual on 10 mins
I was gifted Bears vs. Babies. The box is furry. So that's weird right off the bat. In the game, you are trying to build comically horrific monsters, wielding absurd weapons to try to defeat armies of comically disturbing babies. You battle the babies on land, at sea, and in the air. Overall, an absurd game.
The weirdest game I own is kittens in a blender. You are trying to save your own kittens and send everyone else's kittens into the blender. And purée them. The last sentence in the rulebook is: and then everyone goes home and apologizes to their cats.
Two absolutely bonkers themed games I have. First is the game Origin of Failing Water, which is themed about the moment that Frank Lloyd Wright came up with the idea for the house Falling Water. Not when he built it, or designed it, but when he got the idea. Due to copyright issues it isn't called Origin of Falling Water (Yes, the original Japanese has the kanji version of a typo) to keep the lawyers at bay. And the idea-person is just "The Architect". The fact that he looks almost exactly like Frank Lloyd Wright is a coincidence I am sure. The second game is Cleopatra's Caboose which was literally designed and published on a dare (an online dare at that). Just your standard game about being being a rail baron in ancient Egypt, transporting fruit. Oh, that ol' yarn.
Are we in the Golden Age of Matthew Jude? I hope not cus I'd hate to see his bubble burst! Also, I don't think he's going away anytime soon. 😉
Anno 1800 is a great crossover from the video game. We agree that Exit games would be fab for video gamers! Another brilliant and interesting video!
Matt: Play boardgames to be in a safe place away from the digital world – Me: Playing mostly online because the hobby is weak here 🤣 But it's great that I'm knowing people from all over the country
Thanks for the vid!
For racing game, Flamme Rouge has a similar feeling with a videogame to me. It is quick, has some randomness but also some strategy involved.
My weirdest game is probably Igloo Pop.
Best card game for video gamers: "Slapjack"
Flip over cards, whenever you see a Jack you slap your hand down onto it as fast as possible before your opponent. Fast paced, relies on hand/coordination.
Best board game for video gamers:
"Hungry Hungry Hippos"
4 players one on each side of a square board. Each player controls a plastic Hippo with a lever that opens its mouth and juts forward to grab marbles. Player with the most at the end wins. Most people lever mash but there is something to be said for timing and nuanced lever control. fast paced, relies on hand/eye coordination.
Playing board games is a big stress buster for me. This really helps me to keep my mobile away for some time and help me enjoy great time with family and friends which many have lost due to advent of technology
Adrenaline do be great game, it really captures the quake feel
My weirdest is The Road to Canterbury. You are a shady Pardoner, trying to get travelers to sin in order to sell them indulgences. How wild is that?
For racing games, you missed out on Thunder Road and its remake Thunder Road Vendetta
What about Thunder Alley for the racing game?
I'm such a vanilla gamer that I don't feel I have really strange games. I suppose Democrazy is pretty strange especially in comparison to my other stuff.
I think the only thing that would cause a board game bubble to burst would be total economic or societal collapse. An EMP strike over the continental United States, for instance, might create such economic hardship all over the world that specialty leisure products aren't really an option.
Bonanza. People always say "bean farming?"
Puzzle Strike II is certainly a strange one.
As a point and click gamer, we either like the genre because of the puzzles or we like it because of the story. I can say that those of us that like the games because of the puzzles can be onboarded to board games pretty easily. Maybe Destinies for the story gamers?
Do you REALLY want to know the weirdest game i own?
Because i own a Japanese game called Libido. It's seriously about hiding your dirty magazines so your siblings and mom don't find them when she cleans your room.
My weirdest games are Cosmic Frog where you get to empty your gullet into your vault and knockback your opponents from the Aether to the Outer Dimensions. Super weird and super fun.
Another is So, You've Been Eaten. A space miner is gathering gems from the space beast who is trying to swallow the miner.
Great video! Great answers!
The weirdest game my family plays that’s so easy to teach is Fluxx by Looney Labs, a card game where creating the rules and goal of the game is the play of the game. As to theme, there are many themed versions of Fluxx
To add another option for boardgames to pull-in a videogamer, I would suggest Bullet ⭐/ Bullet ❤for those that enjoy the bullet hell type games but also, a spacial puzzle like candy crush. I've ordered it and can't wait to play!
Strangest game I own: a custom printing of "Them's Fightin' Words" the cowboy insult memory game where each card is part of a cowboy insult you need to add to a memorized string of previous insults. You start with "You Rattlesnake!" And word by word add and memorize new addition until you eventually wind up calling someone "You lowdown, yellow bellied, son-of-a, namby pamby, cross-eyed Rattlesnake!"
O11 is my weird game
The weirdest is called Touch It… you feel the raised ink on a card, and guess what it's a picture of. Meat Masters testing your knowledge of food you have never eaten. Rattle Battle, euro your ships, throw dice in a box lid, and use the card edges to move them around. Sealand, area control with windmills and rapeseed. Vikingar radial paneled board and ruins instead of dice that you try to get to stand on end.
You are correct. I can't believe Adrenaline is not more popular. It is amazing.
Consentacle for me, all the way. Even leaving aside the art (you really do want to look at the pictures) the theme is both affirming and weird as.
I do agree, I use boargames to get away from tech. When my kids are on their bloody ipads again I often suggest a boargame and we have an nice time as a family. The fact that there is a game with cute dragons (flamecraft), saving people (flashpoint), collecting pink eggs (wingspan and yes i have 2 daughters) or growing trees (photosynthesis) does help to get their attention. Thanks to the enormous variety I can only hope that they will keep their interest in board games and have it as a nice childhood memory when they grow up.
And maybe they pass it on to their children…
Heckmeck is amazing!
The best game for people who like shooter games is classic FRAG!
It perfectly captures the look and feel of games like Quake. Running around an arena, picking up powerups and new guns, and shooting everything.
Osrs is the only game the world needs
Thanks so much for the kind words about Sniper Elite and Undaunted!
Honourable mention to BOSS MONSTER. You’re the villain in a dungeon building card game, where you have to draw cards and build out your dungeon in order to trap the hero’s who are out in search for loot. The entire series is inspired by retro gaming, from the art style to the packaging used to sell the many complete games and numerous expansions which keep the game fresh and exciting after many many rounds. It’s a quick set up and the rounds last between 30-40 minutes. It’s a must try if you’re a lover of online rpgs
Strangly enough it's Gloomhaven..i know i know it's very highly rated however even that is bizarre….. it's such a huge, unique, seemingly niche game that has taken the board game world by storm
My strangest game is probably Kabuto Sumo. You’ve got these beetle meeples (beeples?) that look like someone’s backside in a bikini bottom, and you’re trying to push them off this elevated board with these pusher thingys. There’s chairs and ladders…a coffin! It’s WWE with bugs.I love that game.
Excellent stuff as always Matthew. I don't own it but the strangest board game I've seen in recent years is Cosmic Frog.
Thanks Matthew that was some great infotainment. A weird card game you may enjoy is Demon Worker.
Some of my weirdest games though I doubt they’re that unusual all things considered:
1. Kabuto Sumo – A game inspired by coin pushers wheee you can play as a dung beetle named Sisyphus, I mean how awesome is that?
2. Vagrantsong – Cool 50s era animation art style tapping into Southern folklore about haints. Each scenario has completely unique gimmicks which makes teaching and learning a little rough (you need a pen and paper to track them, seriously) but it also keeps the game creative and weird through its long campaign.
3. Deliverance – KS still fulfilling so I don’t own it yet but it’s a boss battler based on apocryphal Judeochristian lore about angels. Always wanted to see someone take characters like St Michael and do for them what games have been doing for Thor and Zeus for years.
4. Rear Window – A game about spying on your neighbors but one player is actually setting the scene trying to get people to guess them while possibly hiding the fact that one neighbor is a murderer… the fact this game is unapologetically based off a 1954 movie only really adds to the weirdness. And yes, I watched the movie because of this game.
My answers to question #2:
As a fan of real time strategy games, I really got into Scythe. The emphasis was less on battling and more on economy and building myself up for an eventual conflict and that honestly captured the magic I love in RTS games. I bet other games that lean even more into 4x would be good for those kinds of players. Since you already mentioned Zombicide, I’ll add Sleeping Gods as an open world narrative adventure since open world is all the rage in the video game world. While I haven’t played them I think there’s a whole batch of Tycoon style games for the gamers that like that franchise.
A couple genres where nothing comes to mind at all as being a board game that captures the same spirit are the platformers, metroidvania, and collectathons. Curious what’s out there.
To the Golden Age question I’d sort of dodge it since I feel like that’s a kind of thing that is usually only said in hindsight but I disagree that having a golden age needs to imply that that the bubble is going to burst. It could be that moment when the hobby had some of its most memorable releases and moments even though it continues to be great, possibly even better as time goes on.
I do feel like there’s a strong argument to be had that breaking down the wall between Euro and “Ameritrash” (scare quotes because I still dislike that word), the rise of Nature / Casual / Cozy themed games, examples of some genres really hitting their stride, and the budding diversity in theme / style / audience qualifies for a golden age.
I do think we should savor this period of time in the hobby as if it was the golden age, regardless of whether history ends up agreeing with that. There are some amazing things happening right now that might be making history for the hobby, and I think we should enjoy and appreciate them. There may be no “bubble burst” but there are different phases and eras and I’d not want to wait until nostalgia kicks in to appreciate the era right now.
Heul doch, for crying out loud!
I think I might win the prize for "weirdest game".
It's the Bullwinkle and Rocky Role Playing Party Game.
It comes with spinners and hand puppets.
That has to win, right?